Many schools and teachers often use weekly word lists to teach spelling, however, this approach does little to support students’ efforts at exploring and understanding language. Word study is a great alternative for students to learn spelling in a meaningful context. Studying word and letter patterns helps children develop a working knowledge about language, which can help them with both reading and writing. Not all children create an immediate connection between reading and writing. Studying words should be incorporated into a literacy block in ways that build connections and provide children with strategies for both reading and writing. In the younger grades, interactive writing is a great way for children to understand how the words they study can be used to communicate ideas. Older students can go on word scavenger hunts and search for their words in environmental print or classroom texts.
Creating a successful word study program is a challenging, but rewarding process. I have found that in my own classroom the children truly enjoy doing our word work, whereas they roll their eyes and complain about spelling lists. Next year I plan to expand upon my use of word study in the classroom. One way to do this is by creating word work journals, where children keep an individual collection of the words they have learned. Children can also build individual word walls that correspond with the spelling patterns they have learned. In previous years, my classroom word wall has been more of a decoration. I am hoping to use it as a teaching tool, by changing the words depending upon our studies, and also allowing the students to interact with the wall.
Williams, C., Phillips-Birdsong, C., Hufnagel, K., Hungler, D., & Lundstrom, R.P. (2009). Word study instruction in the k-2 classroom. The Reading Teacher, 62(7), 570-578.
Kelly, I too plan on revamping my take on spelling this year. Last year I was stuck somewhere in between spelling lists and word study; not doing the traditional spelling lists but at the same time not instructing in the word study fashion.
ReplyDeleteMy word wall is actually something I use quite frequently in my classroom. I have found another successful way to use it other than the teacher putting up words. When a student does not know a word, they write it on a sentence strip, look up the word in the dictionary and copy it into their journal. Then they place the word in a basket underneath the word wall. When the teacher notices words in the basket s/he can gather the class to the word wall & have the student tell the class what the word is & then you place it on your word wall.
It is important for students to investigate and understand the patterns in words. It definitely takes a lot of planning (much more so than handing out a spelling list) however there are so many resources already out there, it is just a matter of taking the time to filter through them.